
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 



FRENCH RELIEF FUND. 


BOSTON: 

ALFRED MUDGE & SON, PRINTERS, 34 SCHOOL STREET. 

1872 . * 





REPORT 


TO THE 


EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 


OF 



%/ %) 




BOSTON : 

ALFRED MUDGE & SON, PRINTERS, 34 SCHOOL STREET. 




The Executive Committee of the Fkench Relief 
Fund submit the accompanying papers to the Sub- 
scribers. 


Gift 

f.Wi Pu^ am * 1 

£,/ 2 - 0 / ^ 


* 





REPORT 


To Messrs. John M. Forbes, 

H. H. Hunnewell, 

Wm. Endicott, Jr., 

Martin Brimmer, 

Avert Plumee, 

R. B. Forbes, 

John L. Gardner, 

Gentlemen: In obedience to your letter of in- 
structions of February 16th, 1871, Mr. Francis 
Brooks and myself left New York by the City of 
Washington, February 19th, and reached London 
March 3d. We there saw many persons who had 
already had experience in distributing aid in France. 
The Committee of the Society of Friends, meeting 
daily at their offices in Houndsditch, received us 
with the greatest kindness. They were in constant 
receipt of advices from their agents in France, and 
the information obtained through them was of the 
greatest value. 

On the 9tli of March we left London for Paris, in 
company with Mr. Paul Forbes. The party of the 
Commune having overthrown the Government on 
the 18th, we left Paris for Havre on the 20th, where 


Executive Com- 
mittee of the 
French Belief 
Fund . 


4 


we spent three days, and returned to London to 
await the arrival of the Worcester, then fully due. 

The condition of affairs in France was now 
greatly changed from what it was when the cargo 
of the Worcester was bought. These changes 
were such as could not have been foreseen. When 
we left New York, peace between France and 
Germany had not been concluded. There was a 
truce between the two powers. Negotiations were 
going on, and it had been necessary for the Execu- 
tive Committee to provide us with letters of recom- 
mendation to the German authorities to meet the 
probability of their being still in possession of the 
country on our arrival. 

But when the Worcester reached Plymouth, 
peace was made. The German army had entered 
Paris in triumph. Gambetta’s government had 
been succeeded by that of Mons. Thiers. The Com- 
mune had taken possession of Paris; and while, 
according to the terms of the Treaty of Peace, the 
German armies were slowly leaving France, and the 
French soldiers, released from prison, were slowly 
returning, a new siege of Paris had begun, and half 
the circuit, once held by the German batteries, was 
occupied by French guns directed against the insur- 
gent city. 


5 


In this state of affairs your Commissioners were 
very reluctantly led to the opinion that the cargo of 
the Worcester, consisting chiefly of flour in bar- 
rels, with mess beef, pork, and other bulky pro- 
visions, could not be successfully distributed in the 
districts where it was needed; partly because of the 
general confusion arising from the political situation, 
and partly because of the great interruption of rail- 
road and other inland transportation. Large quan- 
tities of merchandise were lying at the stations, 
waiting transportation which the railways were un- 
able to furnish, their capacity for moving goods 
having been greatly impaired by the war, and the 
means still at their command being almost wholly 
absorbed by the Government. Many railroad bridges 
had been destroyed, and the navigation of the rivers 
was interrupted by their ruins, almost as completely 
as was the traffic of the railroads by their destruc- 
tion. About fifteen thousand freight cars had been 
carried away by the Germans, or otherwise lost dur- 
ing the war. The Government was bringing home 
from Germany about three thousand prisoners per 
day, who were to be distributed all over France* 
Meanwhile, an army was to be organized at Ver- 
sailles, to operate against the insurgents at Paris. 
Hot only the troops, but the whole material of war, 


6 


was to be brought from the arsenals ancl forts on the 
coast and the frontier, by railways, all of which 
centred at Paris, and to be delivered, not at the 
railway centre, but at a point twelve miles from that 
centre, lying upon one of the radiating lines. The 
detour necessary to. reach this point was, in many 
cases, enormous. 

Mr. Arthur Albright, of Birmingham, who had 
spent two months in France, distributing seeds fur- 
nished by the Society of Friends, wrote to express 
his opinion that the distribution of the cargo would 
be practically impossible. "The difficulty of dis- 
tributing grain to perhaps one thousand cultivators 
enables me to understand in some measure what 
would be your difficulty in bringing one cargo of 
food to one hundred thousand mouths.” 

Mr. Moran, Charge d? Affaires at London, and 
Chairman of the London Committee of the New 
York French Belief Fund, wrote April 14th: "T am 
satisfied that in the present disorganized state of 
railway communication, to say nothing of the politi- 
cal chaos which exists pretty much throughout the 
nation, it would cost almost as much to distribute 
the Worcester’s cargo as it is worth.” 

But perhaps no better proof can be given of the 
want of transportation in France at this time, and 


even later, than the fact that in July a bill passed 
the Assembly throwing the coasting trade of France 
open to vessels of all nations from the 1st of August 
to the 1st of November. 

In answer to despatches advising you of this diffi- 
culty of transportation, we received from you by 
cable on the 29th of March, authority to sell the 
cargo of the Worcester and to use the proceeds 
in money. 

The Worcester having arrived at Plymouth on 
the 4th of April, we met Capt. Whiting there, but 
in consequence of delay at Southampton, where 
the ship put in to repair her boilers, she did not reach 
London till the 22d. To my very great regret, Mr. 
Brooks was obliged to leave London on the 14th, to 
return home. 

The cargo was placed in the hands of Messrs. 
Harris Bros. & Co. for sale, proceeds to be paid over 
to Messrs. Baring Bros. & Co., and on the 25th of 
April I left London, reaching Kouen that night and 
7 Lisieux the next day, where I joined Mr. Cordier, 
Agent of the house of Bussell & Co., who went with 
me to Tours on the 27th. 

At Tours, Mr. Stephen S. Lee of Baltimore had 
been living for two years with his family. During 
the war he had. acted as an agent for the distribution of 


8 


hospital supplies furnished by the "Sick and Woun- 
ded Fund” (so called) of London. In this service his 
zeal, tact, and business-like method had been warmly 
appreciated both by the officers of the fund and those 
who had been aided by it. As an American he whs 
glad of an opportunity of acting with and for his 
countrymen, and gave to the object in which I was 
engaged, not only all the aid which his experience 
and local knowledge of men and things afforded, but 
his warmest sympathy and good-will. 

Calling first on the Protestant pastor at Tours, we 
learned from him that his society was small and 
thrifty, and would not need aid. 

On the 29th we spent the day at the Colony of 
Mettray, four miles from Tours, in company with 
Monsieur Demetz the director. This establishment 
is what we should call a Farm School for boys 
sent there by order of the Courts, and was the first 
of its kind ever founded. When in London my 
attention had been called by gentlemen of the Com- 
mittee of Friends, to the appeal for aid that Mon- 
sieur Demetz was then making in England. The 
statement was, that though their establishment had 
not suffered directly from the war, yet that in conse- 
quence of the war, their income jErom outside sources 
was wholly cut off, and that their own power of pro- 


9 


ductive industry was almost destroyed by the loss of 
two hundred of their oldest and strongest boys, who 
had gone into the army. Unless means could be 
raised to support the establishment for a year, it 
would be necessary to break it up, and dismiss the 
seven hundred boys who were there. 

It was estimated that £2,500 would support them 
for a year. Monsieur Demetz was then in London, 
and after the best examination I could give the sub- 
ject, it seemed to me a case which the subscribers to 
the Fund would wish to aid. One thousand pounds 
had already been subscribed in England, partly by 
gentlemen whom I knew, and in whose judgment I 
had confidence. Monsieur Demetz said that if he 
could secure £2,000, he should feel quite safe, and I 
therefore agreed, that if five hundred pounds could be 
raised by the 15th of May, I would add five hundred 
pounds more, and complete the sum of £2,000. 

From all that we saw at Mettray and all that I 
learned afterwards, I was satisfied that this money 
was well spent. 

The citizens of Worcester had sent to the Fund 
the sum of £508. 18s. 2 d. This was paid over to the 
treasurer of the Colony, in their name, which is 
inscribed among those of the benefactors of the Col- 
ony, upon a tablet placed in the chapel. 


2 


10 


At Tours, was a somewhat similar establishment 
for girls, called the Refuge, where three hundred 
were maintained. It was supported chiefly by the 
needle-work of the girls, the work being sent from 
Paris. But since the siege of Paris by the Prussians, 
in the previous September, this source of income had 
been cut off, and they were reduced to great straits. 
For some months they had tasted no meat, living upon 
bread; and for the last few weeks, finding bread too 
expensive, they had lived upon rice. But this, even, 
was failing them, and the establishment was about to 
be broken up. They received five thousand francs 
with great gratitude, and were confident that it would 
enable them to tide over their worst troubles. With 
the reopening of Paris they would soon go on again 
as before. * 

Tours had been selected as a central point of the 
district north of the Loire, between Orleans and Le 
Mans, which had been the scene of severe fighting 
during the previous autumn and winter. In order 
to see something of the smaller towns and villages 
of this district, Mr. Lee, Mr. Cordier, and myself 
went to Yendome, Chateaudun, and St. Calais, spend- 
ing some time in each place and seeing something of 
the country between. On the whole, we were sur- 
prised to find so few signs of suffering, except at 


11 


Chateau dun, where nearly three hundred hou ses had 
been destroyed by the Prussians. There was a 
great want of milch cows, and there could have been 
no better charity than to help a poor family which 
had lost their single cow to replace it. This might 
have been done from Spain, but there was some scarc- 
ity of fodder, and the cattle disease was still rife, so 
that it seemed unwise to attempt it. Mr. Albright of 
Birmingham, who had been through the country dis- 
tributing seed, said that he thought there was, at 
that time, more suffering in the cities than in the 
country. So far as we could judge, this was the 
case, and this opinion was afterwards confirmed by 
the Archbishop of Tours on his return from a jour- 
ney through the rural districts of his diocese. 

The best way of relieving the distress in Tours, 
seemed to be through the various charitable organi- 
zations of the place, which were well established and 
managed by some of the best people of the city. In 
this way we were able to reach all classes of the poor, 
and to avail ourselves of the research and experience 
of persons of great benevolence, who had made 
the distribution of charity their study. In general 
we found that the war had at once diminished the re- 
sources of the charitable societies and increased the 
demands upon them. After careful inquiry through 


12 


Mr. and Mrs. Lee, aid was given to the following 
societies. 

Society of St. Vincent de Paul, for the relief of the 

poor at their homes ..... 5,000 francs. 

Orphan Asjdum of the Abbe Virdier . . . 2,500 “ 

L ’CEuvre de la Maternite, in aid of poor women 

lying in . 2,000 “ 

Les pauvres malades ...... 2,000 u 

Les petites Soeurs des Pauvres, taking care of 130 

old men ....... 2,000 “ 

L ’CEuvre des Jeunes Economes, for the care of 

orphan girls 2,000 “ 

La Creche, for the care of infants of working women 

during the day 1,000 “ 


„ The last three societies, being especially under the 
care of the ladies of Tours, the subscriptions were 
made from funds furnished by the ladies of Dor- 
chester, and in their name. 

Aid was granted the following communes, con- 
cerning which we had special information : — 


The Commune of Santhenay 
“ “ “ Limeray . 

“ “ “ Auzouer . 

Five Communes near St. Epain . 
The Commune of, Meslay 


2,500 francs. 
2,500 “ 

2.500 “ 

3,300 “ 

3.500 “ 


Making a total of 35,800 francs, including aid to the 
Refuge for Girls, but not including that given the 
Colony at Mettray. 


On the 14th of June, a special service was held at 
the Chapel of St. Martin, to express gratitude for 


13 


the aid given from your fund to Tours and its 
neighborhood, and "to invoke the blessing of 
Heaven upon their benefactors in America.” 

Mass was celebrated by the Archbishop of Tours, 
now of Paris, who made a short address expressing 
his thanks for the gifts received. The children and 
officers of the Orphan Asylum, the Befuge, the 
Petites Sceurs des Pauvres, were present, and the 
service expressed in a serious and religious form 
the gratitude which was deeply felt. 

Meanwhile, the second siege of Paris was going 
on, and the villages of the Banlieue, not held by the 
Prussians, were suffering severely; some of them 
from shot and shell, all from the interruption of 
industry. Asking Mr. Lee and Mr. Cordier to go 
to Orleans to examine and report what should be 
done there, I went myself to Versailles on the (>th 
of May. 

Here I had the very great advantage of the 
advice and assistance of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B. 
Curtis, and their family, whose long residence in 
France and Versailles, gave them the means of the 
best information. Versailles had become a place of 
refuge for many persons who had been driven from 
their houses in the neighboring towns, and being the 
seat of the Government and of the Assembly was, 


14 


during the second siege of Paris, the centre of in- 
formation and action. 

A committee had just been formed for the relief 
of the Banlieue, of which Madame de MacMahon, 
wife of the Marshal, was the head. This was a 
valuable organization, and I gave to it 5,000 francs. 
Miss Curtis was a member of the Committee and had 
the advantage of all the information it collected. 
But for the especial distribution of the money from 
your fund, an informal committee was organized, 
consisting of Mrs. and Miss Curtis, Madame de 
Bussierre and her daughter, Madame de Bamme- 
ville. These ladies were able to act more freely 
than they would have done as members of a large, 
public committee; were themselves of great benevo- 
lence and intelligence, and were in a position to 
obtain assistance and information from the best 
people in France. 

The whole amount of money placed in the hands 
of this Committee was 34,497.25 francs, for which 
Mr. T. B. Curtis gave his receipt. Of this amount, 
on the 1st of, September, 10,000 francs was held as a 
reserve, for use during the coming winter, leaving 
24,497.00 francs distributed, or in the course of dis- 
tribution; full details of which, so far as the expendi- 
ture has gone, have been sent to me by Miss Curtis. 


15 


The general principle on which our Committee at 
Versailles acted was, as far as possible, to assist 
such deserving cases of distress as the larger com- 
mittees, owing to the more stringent rules which 
they were obliged to adopt, or from other causes, 
were unable to relieve. Our action was supplemen- 
tary to that of the CEuvre de la Banlieue, and that 
of the Mayors and Councils of the distressed vil- 
lages. Cases of individual suffering also, were care- 
fully attended to, especially those not unfrequent 
cases, where persons of education and comfortable 
means were suddenly reduced to want by the events 
of the Prussian war, or the revolt of the Commune. 

The village of Puteaux lies on the left bank of the 
Seine, just west of the Bois de Boulogne. Crossing 

• the bridge at Neuilly it is a mile to the left, between 

* 

that and the Fort of Mont Valerien. It is a manu- 
facturing village of about twelve thousand people. 
During the Prussian siege the factories were closed, 
and they had scarcely opened after the peace, when 
they were closed again % the second siege. Fully 
half of the population were receiving public assist- 
ance from the town. This consisted of about eight 
pounds of bread per week to each person inscribed. 
Those who had no other means of procuring food, 
suffered upon this allowance, and old people could 


10 


hardly live upon it. Dr. Curtis was stationed at a 
military hospital in the town, and the Cure, Mons. 
Ducastel, was a brave and active man, worthy of 
entire confidence. About two thousand francs 
placed in his hands, were spent during May, June, 
and July, much of it for meat for those who were 
suffering for want of sufficient food, something for 
medicines and wine; also for beds and clothing. 
Mrs. Curtis writes, August 4th, "The number of 
persons at Puteaux assisted by the funds, amounts 
to one hundred and five. I have counted among 
them, — 

32 who are over 60 years of age, 

48 “ “ “ 70 “ “ “ 

8 «* « “ 80 “ “ “ 

1 “ is 92 “ “ “ 

To help those who could do something to help 
themselves, an "ouvroir” or work-room for women was 
opened by Madame Dufaure, of which one half the 
expenses was paid from the Boston Fund, amount- 
ing to 3,000 francs for three months. 

* 

Eeuilly, lying only a mile and a half from the 
Ard de l’Etoile, was disputed ground between the 
Government and the Commune. Each had its bat- 
teries facing the other in the streets of the town at 
about three hundred yards distance, firing shells 
point blank. The' houses suffered severely, and the 


17 


mass of the population was obliged to take refuge 
elsewhere. Those who remained lived in the cellars, 
and although the soldiers supplied them largely with 
food, there was great suffering. Through the mayor, 
Mons. de Morgny, about 2,300 francs were dis- 
tributed during May and June, for the relief of these 
poor people. 

A thousand francs given the Mayor of Oourbevoie 
was spent, half for sheeting, making ninety-one 
sheets, and half for eighty-two pair of shoes. A 
similar sum was spent by the Abbe Des Jardins at 
Courbevoie, for the relief of many poor. The Mayor 
of Clamart distributed five hundred francs among 
nineteen poor people. To Madame de MacMahon, 
for an ouvroir at Issy, one~ thousand francs were 
given. To the same for an ouvroir at Vanves, five 
hundred francs. For an ouvroir at Nanterre, five 
hundred francs. To Madame P., wife of the Pro- 
testant clergyman at Versailles, one thousand francs, 
for distribution among poor gentle-folk. Two hun- 
dred francs were given to the Cure of Bazeilles, the 
village in the northeast, which was so celebrated dur- 
ing the early part of the Prussian war, where four 
hundred and thirty houses had been destroyed. The 
money given to the Cure was to be spent for bread 
and meat for the children of the village, two hundred 

3 


18 


and twenty of whom were fed daily at the infant 
schools, thus aiding the family and leaving the moth- 
ers more free to work. 

Among the cases of individuals relieved, was that 
of Madame S., who before the war lived comfortably 
at Sevres. Madame S. was a widow with one daugh- 
ter. Her property had consisted of a house and 
garden, which she let for 7,800 francs, reserving one 
floor of the house for her own use. There was a 
mortgage upon the property, the interest on which 
required 8,676 francs, leaving 4,124 francs for Madame 
S. and her daughter, who were without any male'rel- 
ative to assist them with either advice or support. 
The house was burned by the Prussians on the 7th 
of November, and the two ladies utterly without 
means, went to Versailles, ” where they were misera- 
bly lodged in a garret by the charity of a benevolent 
tradesman, whose other rooms were already filled 
with refugees. They had liberty to cook at the fam- 
ily stove, but it being observed that they made no 
use of this privilege, it was found that they lived on 
dry bread and water.” The daughter, an amateur 
painter on porcelain, was provided with painting 
materials and thus enabled to execute orders. Im- 
mediate relief was given by money and by clothing’, 
sent by the Boston Sewing Circle. 


19 


A subscription paper was started by the agent of 
the w Comite de Boston,” at Versailles, to raise 3,300 
francs to repair the roof of the house, and prevent 
further damage from the weather. On the 1st of 
September, 2,700 francs had been raised, of which 
three hundred came from this fund, and one hundred 
from money sent through Rev. Phillips Brooks. The 
Credit Foncier which holds the mortgage upon the 
house, remits interest for five years, and some money 
for repairs may be expected from the Government, 
though after long delay. 

Another case was that of Madame R., who lived 
in her own house at Garenne, just beyond Courbe- 
voie. Her family consisted of her son, a professor and 
teacher of mathematics and literature, and two 
daughters, one of them a widow. Having been 
ordered by the authorities of the town to leave their 
house during the first siege, they went to Paris. Dur- 
ing their absence the house was sacked. The library, 
instruments, chemical apparatus, furniture, linen and 
clothes were destroyed. Two pupils who had been 
with Mons. R. left him, and were unable to pay their 
expenses for the previous winter. The family being 
well known and respected, Miss Curtis arranged that 
the three ladies should take charge of a house for the 
reception and education of destitute children. A 


20 


small house was hired at seventy-five francs a quar- 
ter, the engagement not extending beyond April, 

1872, though the establishment aims at becoming 
permanent and self-supporting, by supplying shops 
with ready-made clothing. All the bedding and 
sheets were bought at reduced prices from ambulance 
stores which had never been used (iron bedsteads at 
seven francs — sheets three francs a pair) . The fur- 
niture was much of it second-hand. The children 
were provided with clothing sent out by the Boston 
Sewing Circle, and the house received preserved 
roast beef from the cargo of the Worcester. In 
this manner a few little girls find a happy home, 
with good food, cleanliness, and education. !N~o or- < 
phans have been placed at this school, because after 
the month of April, it may be necessary to send the 
children back to their families. 

In order to guarantee the R. family from loss by 
this experiment, all the furniture of the house will be 
their property after April next. Children are received 
at the ” Maison Americaine,” at thirty francs a month 
for the first six months, then at twenty-five francs, 
and girls of fifteen are received at twenty-five francs 
immediately. One miserable child was placed there 
by the town authorities of Colombes (of which Ga- 
renne is a suburb), at fifteen francs. 


21 


The " Maison Americaine ” was founded with the 
funds first sent out from Boston, but the expenses 
are now, September 1st, transferred to the Fund from 
the Ladies Fair. It will probably again receive aid 
from the sum reserved for the winter. 

In the account rendered to September 1st, aid given 
to the R. family amounts to three hundred and 
twenty-five francs, and to the school one hundred and 
eventy-five francs. 

In the same village of Garenne-Colombes, was 
Mons. H. a trellis maker. Ilis case is best described 
in his own words. He writes, " I am married. We 
have five children of whom the eldest, a boy, begins 
to work, for he is fourteen years old. The next is a 
girl ten years old, who can do little more than help 
take care of the three little boys. During the siege, 
while we took refuge in Paris, the National Guards 
destroyed my little dwelling, and broke or carried off 
all our furniture and clothing, except what we had 
with us. We are reduced to the greatest want, and 
have but a miserable hut to shelter us against the 
weather, while our five children are obliged to 
sleep together in a stable offered by a kind neigh- 
bor for their use. We cannot earn our bread, 
for we have no money to buy materials to fill the 
orders which we might receive. Still less can we 


22 


rebuild our house or replace the furniture we have 
lost.” 

Miss Curtis found this statement to be perfectly 
true, and " saw the father and son working at their 
trade, the children grouped around the shed, their 
only home, out in the open field, and the girl cooking 
at a stove out-of-doors. This girl is now at the 
Maison Americaine. Gave shirts from the Boston 
Sewing Circle and fifty francs. Shall give more as 
needed.” 

Mons. L., at Houilles, near Argenteuil, writes to 
the Count de Melun, treasurer of the GEuvre 
de la Banlieue. "I own a little land, and am 
' marchand des quatre saisons ’ (raising and sel- # 
ling vegetables and fruit). The Prussians stole or 
destroyed my cooking utensils, bedding, garden 
tools, and provisions. 

"For three months I was 'requisitioned’ nearly 
every day, with my horse and cart, without pay or 
indemnity, which amounts to saying that in spite of 
myself, I, unhappily, worked for the king of Prussia. 

From the privations we suffered, my poor wife had a 
long attack of illness. She is still very feeble, and is 
nearly sixty years of age. For myself, I am long 
past that age, being in my seventieth year. 

"We have not a sous to live on, and still less can 


23 


ws go on with our trade which is our support. But 
if we had the third part of what we have lost we could 
(God helping) recover ourselves. For labor is both 
life and honor to man.” " Excellent people. Gave 
one hundred francs.” 

At Neuilly, was D., a carpenter, with wife and two 
children; "an honest fellow ruined by the civil war. 
The insurgents stole all his tools.” One hundred 
francs bought the necessary tools, and this family was 
placed beyond want- 

At Montretout, F., a blacksmith and locksmith, had 
lost his whole stock and all his tools. Two hundred 
francs paid half the cost of repairing bellows and 
forge, buying stock and tools and starting him again. 
For the other half he got credit. 

At Neuilly a poor widow lost her only son, killed 
by the insurgents. With her two married daughters 
and their three children, she fled to Puteaux. The 
husbands had joined one of the armies. On the 22d 
of May, when the fighting was almost over, the two 
young mothers, while washing by the river-side, were 
both killed at once by the same shell. The grand- 
mother and children were left destitute. The fam- 
ily was visited, and the necessary relief given. 

These cases, of which the number might be largely 
increased, will serve to give some idea of the manner 


24 


in which the money has been spent by the ladies form- 
ing the w Comite de Boston,” at Versailles. 

G-arches is a village of 1,200 inhabitants, lying 
half a mile northeast of St. Cloud. In the latter part 
of September, 1870, as the Prussian army was invest- 
ing Paris, a party of Uhlans entered the village. 
The mayor went to meet them. While he was talk- 
ing with the officer in command, a volley from the 
village was fired at them. No one was hurt, and the 
Uhlans rode away. Early in October, the Prussian 
forces took possession of the village, ordering off all 
the inhabitants with only such property as they could 
carry in their hands. The village was then occupied 
by the troops till the early part of December, when 
they left it; but in revenge for the shots fired in Sep- 
tember, every house was smeared with petroleum and 
burned to the ground. The people were generally 
small market gardeners, owning their house and land, 
sometimes mortgaged, but owning nothing else. 

They were reduced from a condition of industrious 
independence to absolute want. There were hardly 
any houses of rich people in the village. The inhab- 
itants found shelter in stables, but they had no means 
of recovering their loss. Their pear trees and vines 
were cut down, the garden walls levelled, and nothing 
was left where the house had been, except a hole full 


of rubbish, once a cellar. They were, nevertheless, 
busy and courageous. They had cleared away the 
ruins, and were rebuilding the garden walls when 
house building was beyond their ability. 

* It was suggested that if a loan of say 400,000 
francs, at four per cent, could be negotiated, to be 
lent on mortgage for the rebuilding of the houses, the 
interest for three years would be paid by the Boston 
funds. The Baron de Bussierre, a gentleman of the 
highest character and the most active benevolence, 
had become especially interested in the matter, and 
undertook to find out whether such an arrangement 
could be made. Paris was at this time still in the 
hands of the Commune, and two or three weeks 
passed before the necessary information from the 
bankers and loan societies could be obtained. Money 
was found to be worth six per cent. Some legisla- 
tion would be required to define the limits between 
a mortgage existing upon a house before the destruc- 
tion, and one created for its rebuilding. A meeting 
of the deputies of the department was called by Mon- 
sieur de Bussierre. Another meeting was held, of 
the inhabitants of the village. At one time there 
seemed a probability that the money required would 
be furnished by a rich Frenchman at a low rate of 
interest. When I left France nothing had been set- 


26 


tied. A committee of twenty-eight ladies and gen- 
tlemen, for the aid of Garches, had been formed, of 
which Mons. de Bussierre and Mr. Jamieson, a part- 
ner of the house of Hottinguer & Co., were members. 

A credit for 50,000 francs was left with Monsierfr 
de Bussierre, to be used in aid of Garches, in the 
manner which he might think best, but at his discre- 
tion to be applied to other sufferers by the war, should 
it be found impracticable to aid especially the people 
of Garches. 

It was in this town that some 1,200 francs, the pro- 
ceeds of a theatrical performance in Boston, sent out 
to Mr. Brooks by Mrs. James Lodge, were distributed 
through the kindness of Mrs. Curtis and Madame de 
Bussierre. 

On the 13th of May, 6,000 francs were placed in 
the hands of the mayor of Versailles, to relieve cases 
of distress for the payment of rent, which were of fre- 
quent occurrence. This money has been administered 
by a Commission of ten members of the City Gov- 
ernment. A report received up to July 31, shows 
that it is used with great care and only after the 
closest investigation of the merits of each case. At 
that date seventy-nine families had been relieved 
from debts amounting to 12,000 francs, by an expen- 
diture of 3,447 francs, the balance being remitted by 


27 


the landlords. A complete account will be rendered 
by the commission when the fund is exhausted. 

Four thousand francs were given the Sisters of 
Charity (of the Sacre Cceur) at St. Cloud, their house 
and property there having been destroyed by the 
Prussians. These sisters who devoted their lives to 
nursing the sick and wounded, and to the care of 
young children, now needed aid themselves. 

Six thousand francs were sent Madame Thiers for 
a society in aid of soldiers who had suffered amputa- 
tion, the money to be spent partly for artificial limbs 
and partly in small annuities. 

Ten thousand francs were given Monsieur de Bam- 
meville for the town of Ablis and the department 
of Sarthe. He had the valuable assistance of 
Monsieur Labadie, director of the Ambulance Gi- 
ronde. Between 3,000 and 4,000 francs would be 
used at Ablis for the purchase of beds and bedding, 
of which there was great need. 

' At Ablis a detachment of Prussians had been sur- 
prised and captured by a corps of Franc-Tireurs. 
In revenge (although no inhabitant of the town had 
taken part directly or indirectly in this act of ^rar), a 
Prussian general returned with a considerable force, 
gave two hours of pillage to the soldiers, who killed 
several of the town’s people, seized the notables as 


28 


hostages, and then set fire to the principal quarters of 
the town, first covering them with petroleum. It 
was forbidden under pain of death, to extinguish the 
fire, and the owners were obliged to witness the 
destruction of their houses. Half the town was 
burnt with all the furniture, property, and stores 
which the Prussians had not already appropriated. 
The Hotel de Ville even, which had been converted 
into a hospital was not spared. [ See report of Mons. 
de Bussierre , p. 27.] 

Ten thousand francs were placed in the hands of 
Mr. *W. H. Waddington, deputy from Aisne, for 
relief of distress in his district. Mr. Waddington 
writes, ” The object to which I should wish to devote 
the money, is to enable poor families, who were 
robbed by the Prussians of their only cow, to buy a 
new cow; or in cases where cottages were burnt 
down, to enable the owners to begin building them 
again. I should not wish to fritter the money away, 
but to distribute it in portions of one hundred, two 
hundred, or even three hundred francs, so as to con- 
fer a lasting benefit on the receivers of your bene- 
faction.” 

For the details of the expenditure of 50,000 francs 
in the city of Orleans and neighboring country, 

I beg to refer to Mr. Lee’s interesting report * 


* See Appendix No. 1. 


29 


19,500 francs were given to various charitable soci- 
eties at Orleans ; 22,500 francs to ten communes and 
towns; 5,000 to Yendome, and 3,000 to two societies 
at Tours. 

Chateaudun, a flourishing town of 7,000 inhabi- 
tants, lying northwest of Orleans, was defended by 
Gardes Mobiles and Franc-Tireurs, against an attack 
of the Prussians, in the autumn of 1870. The Prus- 
sians are said to have suffered heavy loss. They 
drove out the French troops and burnt about four 
hundred houses, being a considerable portion of the 
town. Fifteen thousand francs were sent there. The 
distribution was made in sums varying from one hun- 
dred to four hundred and fifty francs, after very care- 
ful investigation by Count Galembert, Mr. Lee, and 
a lady of Chateaudun. The money was lodged at a 
banker’s, and paid directly into the hands of the 
recipients, whose receipts we have. Mr. Lee says, 
August 8th, ” From all sides I hear that the money 
has been well placed, and caused much happiness and 
relief.” Of twenty-eight persons relieved, seven 
were seventy years of age and upwards; five weie 
sixty and upwards ; seven were widows. 

In Paris, 5,000 francs were placed in the hands of 
Eev. Mr. Coquerel, who has sent a detailed account 
of its distribution. 


30 


Two thousand francs were placed with Rev. 
Theodore Monod, and fifteen hundred with Dr. 
Thierry Mieg, of which the accounts have not yet 
come in. 

Miss Clara Barton, so well known in connection 
with the Sanitary Commission during our war, had 
done great good at Strasburg, in furnishing work to 
eight hundred heads of families during the last win- 
ter. In July, she was in Paris making use of funds 
placed in her charge by Mr. Moran, of London. At 
my request she undertook the distribution of 30,000 
francs in the Franche Comte and the country near 
Belfort, which had suffered from the operations of 
Garibaldi and the retreat of Bourbaki’s army. Her 
accounts have not yet been received. * 

Included in the cargo of the Worcester were 
about 20,000 pounds of preserved roast beef of excel- 
lent quality, packed in tin cans of convenient weight. 
Being of great value in proportion to its bulk, easily 
divided and cooked, it was perhaps the portion of the 
cargo best fitted for distribution in kind. It was 
therefore shipped from London to Havre, to the care 
of George H. Draper, Esq., by whom it was deliv- 
ered to the following parties, who paid all charges 
of transportation from Havre. 


* See Appendix No. 2. 


31 


To L’CEuvre de la Banlieue 10,000 lbs. 

“ Baron de Bussierre 6,000 “ 

“ Mr. Waddington ....... 4,000 u 

20,000 “ 

Mods, de Bussierre intended to give to the poor of Gar- 
des 2,200 lbs. 

To the poor of Ablis 1,500 “ 

“ “ “ “ Lahoussaye (Seine and Marne) . . 300 “ 

“ “ Protestant Committee, for the relief of sufferers 

by the War 2,000 “ 

6,000 “ 

Distribution to be made by local committees and if 
possible during the winter. 

Six boxes of clothing contributed by the ladies of 
the Boston Sewing Circle, were sent to Havre as 
soon as landed from the W orcester. Early in May, 
they being placed at the disposal of Madame de Mac- 
Mahon, who was at the head of the GEuvre de la 
Banlieue, on condition that they should be conveyed 
free of charge to Versailles; the attempt, after trial 
was reluctantly abandoned. The cases finally reached 
Versailles about the 20th of June. The distribution 
of the clothing has been made by the GEuvre de la 
Banlieue and under the special supervision of Miss 
Curtis, in whose accounts, details are given. 

The expressions of gratitude from the receivers of 
your charity, have been very warm and sincere. In 
many cases by word of month, often in writing, in 


32 


reports of committee of relief and in newspaper 
articles. 

Monsieur St. Hilaire, private secretary of Mons. 
Thiers, wrote, Versailles, July 24th, 1871. 

" Sir, — Mr. Wickham Hoffman, Secretary to the 
Embassy of the United States, informs me by a letter of 
the 10th inst. that you have come to France charged 
with distributing to the poor, provisions sent by the 
citizens of Boston; that these provisions have been 
brought to Havre at the expense of the government 
of the United States, and that after selling them, you 
have distributed the proceeds, amounting to the sum 
of 300,000 francs and especially among the inhabitants 
of the environs of Paris. 

" I have brought the statement of these facts to the 
knowledge of the President of the Council of Minis- 
ters, chief of the executive power. He charges me 
with his thanks on behalf of his countrymen, to your 
fellow-citizens of Boston, to your government and to 
yourself, who have united from an impulse of sym- 
pathy with France, to bring to the victims of the war 
assistance so generous and so fraternal.’' 

The Prefet of the Department of Loiret, residing 
at Orleans, writes, July 26th, 1871. 

"Sir, In spite of the distance which separates them, 
America and France are united by so many bonds of 


33 


affection that you have come to sympathize with our 
misfortunes and relieve us in our distress. The city 
of Boston has taken the lead in this generous and 
patriotic movement and has sent you as her represen- 
tative, to the inhabitants of Loiret. 

" As Prefet of this Department and the natural pro- 
tector of its interests, I must thank you, sir, for 
the succor which you have brought us. I must also 
express our appreciation of the care with which you* 
have fulfilled your mission. 

” We can never forget the delicate method of dis- 
tributing the many benefactions which have increased 
the sympathy already existing between our two na- 
tions. History will have reason to point to your in- 
exhaustible charity as an example of a truly Christian 
fraternity, and as a virtue which belongs to your 
nation. 

" The citizens of Boston have shown themselves the 
worthy compatriots of the illustrious man of whom 
it was said, ' Qui mundum scriptis docuit, virtutibus 
ornat.’ ” 

The Mayor and Cure of Tavers, write June 17, 
1871. "In the name of our unhappy fellow-citizens, 
whose sufferings this gift (2,000 francs) gives us 
the means of alleviating, we beg you to receive the 


5 


Meaning Mr. Lee. 


34 


expression of our gratitude for this signal kindness. 
As we have had the honor of telling you, we have at 
least one hundred families who suffer extreme pri- 
vations, and among them, thirty who are reduced to 
a condition of absolute want.” 

The Superior of the House of the Good Shepherd, 
at Orleans, writes June 19, 1871: "I know not how 
to tell you, sir, how deeply we are touched by the 
charity of your city, nor to express the gratitude 
which we feel to her. We can only show it by 
thanking God for the kindness of Boston, and by 
praying Him to scatter His abundant blessings upon 
her and her inhabitants.” 

The Director of the CEuvre de Nazareth, at 
Orleans, writes: w Generous America is moved at 
the sight of our misfortunes; she sends abundant 
succor to our ravaged fields; she comes to help us 
heal our hurts and bind our wounds. Thanks, a 
thousand thanks, to the city of Boston. We shall 
teach our children to remember this good deed. We 
shall tell them that beyond the sea there lives a 
generous people who came to succor their distress. 

" Be so good, sir, as to make that great city 
of Boston understand how much the children of 
France, how much the people of Orleans are 
touched by their generous gifts. It is in misfortune 


35 


that we recognize our friends, and it is especially in 
the midst of our disasters that North America 
shows itself the sister of France, and that the sons 
of these two great nations are happy to call them- 
selves brothers.” 

Baron de Bussierre, in his report, speaks of w the 
inexhaustible charity of America, — charity for which 
our country can never show itself sufficiently grate- 
ful.” 

The expenditure thus described may be briefly 
recapitulated as follows: — 


To Mettray 


. 12,500 francs. 

Tours and neighboi’hood 


. 38,800 

it 

Chateaudun 


. 15,000 

a 

Orleans and neighborhood . 


. 48,500 

u 

Ablis and Sarthe . _ . 


. 10,000 

u 

Garches .... 


. 50,200 

(. 

Versailles and neighborhood of Paris 

. 55,300 

a 

Paris 


. 9,000 

u 

Department of Aisne . 


. 10,000 

a 

Alsace .... 


. 30,000 

a 


279,-300 francs. 

Of this amount further accounts will be received 
of the disposal of 119,500 francs by the following 


persons: — 

Baron de Bussierre 
Mons. de Bammeville . 
Mr. Waddington . 

Miss Curtis 


. 50,000 francs. 
. 10,000 “ 

. 10,000 “ 

. 10,000 “ 


36 


Mayor of Versailles 

. . . . 6,000 francs. 

Dr. Thierry Mieg 

. 1,500 “ 

Rev. Theo. Monod 

. 2,000 “ 

Miss Clara Barton 

. 30,000 “ 


110,500 francs. 


The distribution of your charity has reached every 
part of France ravaged by the war, from the district 
around Tours, north of the Loire to Alsace, with the 
exception of the northeastern frontier, where, from 
Worth to Sedan, the first battles of the war were 
fought. I had supposed that this district would be 
amply cared for on account of the great interest 
excited by the earlier events of the campaign, and 
from its neighborhood to Belgium, where large relief 
funds were raised. But I now believe that there is 
much room for charity thfcre, and none of your funds 
have gone there except a small amount sent to 
Bazeilles, and perhaps some of the money given Mr. 
Waddington, who lives at Laon, Department of Aisne. 
The estimated balance in the hands of Messrs. Baring 
Brothers & Co. is £728. 16s. 7 d. 

I would suggest that the balance of the fund as 
shown by Messrs. Baring Brothers & Co.’s account to 
December 31st, be placed at the disposal of Baron de 
Bussierre, Mr. Waddington, and Miss Curtis, suggest- 
ing to them the Province of Lorraine as an object of re- 


37 


lief, and pointing out how highly the committee value 
use made of funds distributed among w les pauvres 
honteux,” as described in the letter from the wife of a 
Protestant clergyman near Paris; — that this is the 
class of cases which you would wish to reach in pref- 
erence to all others, but finally leaving everything to 
their better judgment. and information. 

Contributors to the Fund living in Providence, 
Worcester, Dorchester, and other cities and towns of 
this and other New England States, are begged to 
take to themselves the full share of gratitude and 
thanks which their generosity so fully earned. It 
was impossible to explain to the French that their 
benefactors were of Massachusetts, because the word 
was to them unknown and unpronounceable, while 
New England would have been connected with Great 
Britain in an undesirable manner. The result was 
that Boston acquired a perhaps undue prominence in 
the written communications, but the real facts were 
explained as far as possible. 

With great respect, 

EDMUND DWIGHT, 

Commissioner French Relief Fund. 


Boston, December 16, 1871. 






































f 




• s 




• • t 













* 

































✓ 




A 





















— — 





APPENDIX. 





APPENDIX I. 


Tours, July 6, 1871. 

Dear Mr. Dwight : 

In accordance with your wishes, I hereby send you a re- 
port of my work in the distribution of the £2,000 allotted by 
you for Orleans and the neighboring Communes, for 
La Bauce and the Valley of the Loire. 

I have been forcibly struck with the absence in France, of 
that system of public charity which exists in our own coun- 
try and in England. The system of apparent public charity 
here, is through the Bureaux de Bienfaisance. But this is in 
the first place, established by private donations. After their 
establishment the arm of government extends over them, 
not to increase their income, but to see that it is never di- 
verted from charitable uses. The Government appoints the 
members of the Bureau, who, with the Mayor and the Cure 
of the Commune, form a board for the distribution of its 
income which must not be less than two hundred francs per 
annum. The amount of the original donation must by law 
be placed in government securities. Once established it 
remains in perpetuity, and the income can never be diverted 
from the purposes of charity in the Commune. But there 
are no public almshouses in France. There are hospitals 
where the sick are cared for. But the aged poor, too old to 
work, are the objects of individual benevolence. Institu- 
tions are founded by the charitable, supported by private 


42 


subscriptions, by annual fairs, by lotteries, and by special 
church services after which collections are made. You see 
that they rest on varying and uncertain supports. 

These institutions (except Mettray) , appear to be under 
the influence of, and interwoven with, the church ; but in 
reality they are not so, although the church aids them with 
its influence. Private charity alone supports and sustains 
them. 

If I have been surprised by the want of public, charitable 
institutions, I have not been less so, by the individual devo- 
tion to benevolent works in France. Their system of pri- 
vate charity differs entirely from our own. We give freely 
in money. The French, perhaps, do not give so largely in 
money, but in individual labor and attention, their devotion 
is wonderful. 

Under this system of charity, all these institutions 
found themselves without means of support owing to losses 
caused by the war. What a boon to them has been the 
substantial offering of sympathy sent from our country to a 
sensitive people, more depressed in the hour of misfortune 
perhaps, than any other people in the w T orld. 

I began my distribution at Orleans, that venerable city, so 
historic, so proud, and now so suffering. 

LES PETITES SCEURS DES PAUVRES. 

This institution owes its origin to the modest but pious 
efforts of a servant whose devotion to her impoverished 
master solaced his declining years, and supported him 
with food gathered from the tables of those who had some 
to spare for charity. 

The Sisters of this Institution, sprung from this humble 
origin, devote their lives to the aged who have survived 
their manhood and their friends ; give them a home, and beg 
the food with which to support them in their closing years. 


At Orleans they now have one hundred and twenty per- 
sons to care for and support. What work can be more 
disinterested and self-sacrificing? I gave them two thou- 
sand francs. 


THE BON PASTEUR. 

This Institution provides for forty orphans, is very poor, 
and struggling for support, as their receipts from their 
ordinary sources have been sadly reduced. I gave them 
two thousand francs. 

THE ORPHELINAT DE NAZARETH. 

This Institution receives orphans who are usually kept 
for four years, during which time they are instructed and 
taught some useful employment to prepare them to take care 
of themselves. When they leave the Institution they are 
provided with a place which gives them a home and em- 
ployment. Their means of support have been derived from 
those orphans whose relatives or friends could pay three 
hundred francs per annum for them, and from charitable 
contributions. Both sources have largely failed them this 
year, and they have at this time one hundred and fifty 
orphans to maintain. I send you a letter full of gratitude 
for the donation of two thousand francs. 

THE SOCIETY OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL. 

Monsieur R., the President of the Imperial Court, is 
the President of this Society. He, with the Treasurer, 
brought their books, and gave me a full statement ot 
the demands upon them, and of their income, which, as I 
have found always in France, is derived from three 
sources. First, from contributions, which had failed them 
this year to the extent of orfe half; second, from ser- 
vices in the churches, expressly for them, after which a 


44 


collection was made, — that had failed them to the extent of 
two thirds ; third, a lottery, or fair, from which they gener- 
ally obtained about four thousand francs ; that source had 
entirely failed them, as they were not able to get it up thi£ 
year. With this condition of their income they had on their 
list eight hundred families, making four thousand persons. 
I send a letter of thanks for the donation of five thousand 
francs. 

THE PERSE VERENCE AND APPRENTICES. 

This Institution aids disabled workmen and apprentices, 
and was most warmly recommended to me as most worthy 
and charitable in its object, and full of need at this time. I 
am sure you will approve the donation of two thousand 
francs. 


THE CITY OP ORLEANS. 

At the request of the Marquis de T., I gave three 
thousand francs to the city of Orleans, to meet such cases 
of distress as were constantly coming before them, and 
which they could not provide for. The Marquis is the 
Adjoint of the Mayor of Orleans, and by his de votion to the 
cause of charity has become familiar Avith many cases of 
touching interest. There A\ r as a case of a poor family Avho 
had always lived in comfort, and Avere hoav reduced to utter 
want by the loss of everything. They had a store of all 
sort of articles of men’s Avear, underclothing, etc., and it 
was so tempting to the German soldiers, when they entered 
Orleans, that they did not leave a pair of gloves in the shop. 
The family is left utterly destitute. Another poor family of 
nine he found in the suburbs of Orleans, without an article 
of furniture, only a little straw to lie upon. The chil- 
dren begged their food from day to day. That man had 
owned cattle and lived upon the products of his farm ; but 


45 


the Germans had taken all, and he came with his wife and 
little ones to Orleans in despair, to seek for bread and to try 
and do something. For cases similar to these they required 
some money, and I gave it. 

THE TWO LITTLE GIRLS. 

This was another touching case to which my attention was 
called. These two little girls, whose father was entirely ruined 
by the war, had just lost their mother. The father, struggling 
for bread, was making only a franc a day to support these two 
little children of seven and ten years, and himself. See how 
hopeless his effort. Moved by their pitiable condition the 
Marquis de S. determined to make the effort to raise the 
means to place them in the Convent Des Dames de la 
Sagesse, where they would be educated and supported until 
they were eighteen years old, and taught some useful em- 
ployment by means of which they would be able to support 
themselves. The Institution will have a maternal care over 
them, and in the struggles of life, if they were ill or suffer- 
ing, they would find there a home and friends. It required 
a small wardrobe and a thousand francs. Their little ward- 
robe had been secured, and five hundred francs had been 
raised, but the other five hundred francs were needed to 
complete the benevolent work. I told my friend to look no 
further; — the Boston Committee would make up what he 
wanted, and gave him the five hundred francs. I was taken 
to see the little things in their new home, and he told them 
I was the representative of the good people of Boston, who 
had so kindly befriended them. There is no one of the 
objects of charity I have had the good fortune to be asso- 
ciated with, which gives me more pleasure to think of than 
this, and I am sure no one of the subscribers to this fund 
can feel other than a thrill of pleasure when they think their 
charity has placed these two little girls beyond the reach of 
want and misery. 


46 


THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION VISITATION NOTRE DAME 

DE CHARITE. 

These are the institutions for which I made the personal 
appeal to you, and I thank you for the aid you have given 
them. As I wrote you, I have known them through my con- 
nection with the English National Society for aid to the sick 
and wounded in war. I was familiar with the work done by 
these self-sacrificing Sisters of Mercy. They are now 
brought to temporary want, by the derangement of their 
usual means of support, and by having used up their re- 
served funds in the work of providing for, and taking care 
of, the sick and wounded. They are now the objects of char- 
ity themselves. As I told you, they had won my respect and 
esteem by their devotion to the sick, and they have my 
sympathy and pity in their hour of trial and suffering. The 
Notre Dame de Charite has received and nursed one thousand 
sick and wounded. The sisters were compelled to do even 
the washing for their patients, while they also aided in that 
way the Ambulance St. Euverte. From doing this work 
many of them had contracted typhus and varioloid, and had 
died in consequence. Both of the other institutions had 
done generous and noble work also. 


LAILLY. 

From Orleans our next relief was carried to this Commune 
of 2,226 inhabitants where the passions engendered by the 
war were sadly evident. Here we saw the remains of eigh- 
teen houses burned, making twenty-six families homeless, 
and from the inhabitants I heard the sad story of the deeds 
committed here. A force of the Germans, reconnoitring and 
coming into the village, was attacked by two companies of 
Franc-Tireurs. The horse of the German commander was 
killed, and fell with him. Others being wounded, the force 


47 


retreated, leaving their commander who was supposed to 
have been killed. Bat he, disengaging himself and rising 
to his feet, was fallen upon by the infuriated inhabitants, who 
attempted to kill him. In his struggles with them he was 
badly wounded. At the moment the Duke de L., whose 
chateau is near, coming up, saved him from their fury, and 
took him to his chateau, had his' wounds dressed, and him 
kindly cared for. The wounded German proved to be the 
Count d’ A., a nobleman and officer of distinction. 

The Germans, learning the maltreatment of the Count, 
arid with the view of striking terror among the inhabi- 
tants and punishing them for their conduct, came down 
upon the village with a force of three thousand men to 
burn it. 

The inhabitants, terrified, hid themselves in their houses. 
The soldiers set the village on fire, and in the heat of excited 
passions, shot the unfortunate people as they fled from their 
burning homes. In that way seven of the inhabitants were 
killed, some of them in their houses, where their bodies 
were burned. I could not believe the statement, but was 
shown the houses in which the bodies were burned, and the 
places in the street where the others lay, when shot, as 
they fled. I then did not believe it, until I had heard it in 
a manner not to be doubted. The Cure who had been there 
thirty-four years confirmed the statement, and took us to 
the other end of the village to show us the ruins of the Cha- 
teau of the Countess de L., a cousin of the Duke, which had 
also been burned, and which he regretted extremely, as she 
was not rich but was very charitable. Notwithstanding her 
own losses she had given him nearly one thousand francs to 
help the poor of the village through the winter. I gave 
them two thousand francs, which is applied to aid in re- 
building. 


48 


DRY. 

This is a small Commune near to Lailly, and came in for a 
part of the harsh treatment of it, although fortunately it has 
not been burned. Returning from Lailly we dined with 

Monsieur R , at his father’s residence. They told us that 

one of the Uhlans had ridden his horse into their very beautiful 
drawing room, to the great terror of the ladies. You will 
note one fact, — that wherever the Franc-Tireurs appeared, 
the Germans were very severe upon the people. 

TAVERS. 

This Commune is on the north bank of the Loire, in La 
Beauce, quite near to Beaugency. It suffered greatly from 
pillage. It is one of the vine-growing Communes, and 
the poor inhabitants are now almost in despair, as the frost 
of the 18th of May has destroyed the fruit on their vines. I 
could not but regard them with pity. You will see that I 
gave them two thousand francs. 


GRAVANT. 

This was a very prosperous Commune, but has met with 
very severe losses. Several of its little villages were the 
scenes of desperate battles. It was here that I was enabled 
to account for the great loss of furniture through this region. 
You know that La Beauce is a level, fertile plain, like our 
prairies. The inhabitants live in villages, but here and 
there there are large farms, the buildings forming a hollow 
square. Now these villages were fiercely contended for, and 
the furniture was used for breastworks in ‘the streets, and 
burned by the troops when compelled to leave them. The 
large farms were like forts on the plain, and were sure to be 
burned before the struggle for them was over. I found from 
the Mayor and Cure that nothing would give more relief at 
this time than some cows, as all had been taken, and many 


49 


poor families lived upon the product of a cow, which if they 
did not own, they had the use of, the calf going to the 
owner. I perceived that this custom would enable me to do 
a permanent good to the Commune while it would bring im- 
mediate relief to several families. I found that this Com- 
mune had no Bureau de Bienfaisance, — no charitable fund 
for the poor. So I told the Mayor and Cure that Boston 
would found a Bienfaisance for the Commune. That I 
would place two thousand francs in their hands, to purchase 
cows immediately, to be placed, according to the custom of 
the Commune, among the poor families, the calves to be sold 
and proceeds invested in cows until there were enough to sup- 
ply all the poor families. Then the proceeds arising from 
the sale of the calves were to found the Bienfaisance, and as 
soon as the Bureau was established, the cows were to become 
their property. Thus will this fund grow, and become a 
permanent aid to the Commune, at the same time give relief 
to the poor families in its growth. 

MESSAS. ■ 

This Commune, adjoining Cravant, had suffered very much 
in the same way but not to the same extent. They were in 
as great want of cows as their neighbors. The Mayor and 
Cure told me that nothing would give more relief now, 
than what I had done for Cravant. As they had a Bureau 
de Bienfaisance, I gave two thousand francs to buy cows 
to be the property of the Bienfaisance of this Commune. 

BAULE. 

This Commune is on the north bank of the Loire, and 
like Tavers is a vine-growing Commune. The inhabitants 
I found extremely depressed, as the frost of the 18th of May 
had killed the fruit on their vines. One of the first results 
was, that a large number of children were taken from school, 
7 


50 


their parents being no longer able to pay for them, although 
the cost of schooling was very light. I said to the Mayor 
and Cur£, Why does not the Commune open the school free 
to the children of these poor people ? His reply astonished 
me. He said, The number which we have a right to educate 
free is full : viz. twenty boys and fifteen girls. I said, Who 
prevents your educating them? He replied, The Government 
did not allow more than thirty-five in the Commune to be 
educated free, and the list was made by the Government. 
He appreciated the importance of keeping the children at 
school, and he told me he had called a meeting of the Muni- 
cipality, to try and allow the children to continue free of 
cost. But he felt that, in the present condition of things, 
nothing would be done. 

I inquired the number of children who had been taken 
away from school ; he replied, Fifty-seven ; and he thought 
two or three more would be compelled to leave. I asked 
what amount would pay for the schooling of sixty children 
for a year. The Cure calculated the amount, and it was a 
little under one thousand francs. So I told him the Bos- 
ton Committee would give the money to pay for the fifty- 
seven, and the three who he thought would have to leave 
fora year ; and I gave him, with the Cure, one thousand francs 
for the purpose. The Mayor particularly showed great ap- 
preciation of the service rendered, and told me that in no 
way could a greater charity have been bestowed upon the 
Commune, and that he would the next day have them all 
back at school. I gave them also one thousand francs to 
aid the poor families. 


MEUNG. 

This has been a suffering town and Commune, with very 
heavy losses and a very long occupation ; as I recommended 
to you , I gave the sum of five thousand francs for their relief, 


51 


placed in the hands of the Mayor, who, I am sure, will 
apply it in the best manner to relieve the wants and suffering 
of the Commune. 


BEAUGENCY AND BLOIS. 

To each of these towns I have sent twenty-five hundred 
francs. Being placed in the hands of very intelligent Mayors, 

I feel that the money will be well applied. 

VENDOME. 

This town and Commune being in the track of the armies 
between Orleans and Le Mans suffered very much, although, 
fortunately, not from fire. Mr. M. , the benevolent and 
active mayor, informed me that eight hundred of the inhabi- 
tants were requiring aid on account of losses by the war. I 
have sent him five thousand francs for the City and Com- 
mune, which, from his known character of benevolence, will, 
I am sure, be used to aid and relieve the most necessitous. 

This amount completes the distribution of the £2,000 
especially placed in my hands, and I hope it will be' satisfac- 
tory to you, and the generous subscribers whom you repre- 
sent. You can say to them from one who has lived among 
these people for nearly three years, and in the midst of the 
scene during the war, — and has known all your distributions 
in this region, that I am sure more suffering could not have 
been relieved with the means, than has been done by you. 
That in looking back upon the work done in this region, I 
do not see, with the experience gained in distributing it, 
how it could have been improved. And I am further sure, 
had it not been for the timely aid contributed to some of 
these valuable institutions, that they must have been broken 
up. 

We will now turn attention to Chateaudun. I have seen 
Count G. and we have taken steps te get the most reliable 


52 


information, and hope soon to be able to use the fifteen 
thousand francs in a manner to insure the greatest relief. 

I am, my dear sir, 

Most truly yours, 

STEPHEN S. LEE. 

Edmund Dwight, Esq. 


# 




APPENDIX II. 


Extract of a letter from Miss Clara Barton . 

Belfort, Oct. 28, 1871. 

My efforts have been directed to three classes of sufferers, 
with two of which I have nearly finished, and the third I am 
this moment among. These were the families of the prison- 
ers of Versailles and the hulks. The families of Alsace and 
Lorraine who, refusing to become German, are passing oyer 
the lines into France by hundreds, even thousands. And 
thirdly, the region about Belfort. 

The first named of these, the families of the prisoners, are 
no longer confined to Paris but scattered now for some dis-r 
taiice around, poor, suffering, frightened and trebly desolate. 
First, they have often lost the family support in the person 
of the prisoner. Next, they wait in suspense worse than ac- 
tual death, for the result of the impending trial, fearing often 
to reveal to those about them who they are, and why so des- 
titute. And lastly, poor as they are, they know that the 
government allows but half a franc per day for the support of 
each prisoner and provides nothing .else, not even a bed ; and 
whatever more he has (and many are very ill) must be pro- 
vided by friends from outside. You will see how the hungry 
mouths and wretched homes would be robbed by pity and 
anxiety to supply such needs. I have made it a portion of 
my care to find and supply some of these families. It could 


54 


only be some, for there cannot be less than twenty thousand 
of them. There are forty thousand prisoners. 

A still more wretched class, if possible, are the outcoming 
Alsacians. The time has arrived for each to decide whether to 
be French or German, and, if the latter, to take the oath of 
allegiance to Germany. In their ignorance and infatuation they 
still believe France to be the greatest nation of the earth ; and 
in spite of her recent reverses, watch with unflinching faith 
to see her, at no distant day, rise in all her old-time power 
and advance to take back her lost possessions. And to them 
the thought is death that, in that proud day, they or their 
sons should wear the Prussian helmet and point their guns 
against the eagles of France. Imprudent expressions touch- 
ing these matters bring them into unpleasant relations with 
the German soldiers, who do not hesitate to mention unpal- 
atable facts. This last feather is too much, and finding the 
burden too heavy to be borne, the incensed father, or the 
widowed mother, gathers lip the family of growing children, 
and, turning their backs upon the blackened walls and tram- 
pled fields of the old home, makes for the nearest point of 
tjie French lines, and comes out defiant, but with never a 
penny nor a morsel. 

The French are glad to receive them ; feel complimented 
by their loyalty, but are burthened and embarrassed by 
them. Societies for their relief are formed at many points, 
but it is only the merest trifle they can do for them, except- 
ing to aid in finding employment. This often takes a long 
time, and the interim of waiting is something fearful. I 
found them largely at Lyons, which is one of the points they 
make on their way to the south of France or to Algiers. 
At Paris, too, every train brings them, especially the night 
trains. I have put in practice a lesson which I learned in 
Germany, fourteen months ago, when France drove all her 
German families over the lines, viz. : to meet and provide 


55 


for them at the trains. No one can suppose that leaving 
Alsace and Lorraine, and coming into. France, is not the most 
unwise and deplorable step these poor people could take ; 
that they would not be a hundred-fold better off to remain. 
But I did not understand that your mission was to the wise, 
but to the unhappy, and I have taken the liberty of giving 
them something. 

But, meanwhile, I have not forgotten Belfort, nor the fact 
that this was to be the great point when the right time 
should come. I had a conference with the authorities there, 
and asked them to tell me plainly what their people most 
needed. They replied, "Small sums of money to begin the 
winter with,” and gave this reason : There is just now com- 
mencing a money panic in France. The large payments she 
must make to Germany in gold and silver make these com- 
modities exceedingly scarce, and all who have a little, bury 
it in their pockets and bureaus, and hold it against the time 
when there will be no more, and paper worth little or noth- 
ing. The smallest note is twenty francs, a sum beyond the 
reach of a poor family; and thus there is nothing for them 
in money. This state of things, they assured me, would grow 
worse and worse ; and as France is only at her second pay- 
ment, I believe, there was no room to doubt the correctness 
of their judgment. I asked how they would have it ; in one 
sum to give to the people themselves, or should I give it? 
Apologizing for the labor they were suggesting to me, they 
begged that I would do it if I could ; not that they were too 
indolent to do the work (for they are splendid men and have 
the welfare of their people at heart) , but they explained that 
living among, and exercising jurisdiction over, these people, 
who looked to them for impossible things, it was embarrass- 
ing to them to make distributions among them personally. 
The people were ignorant, and all had suffered so much that 
each one believed his or her case to be the worst in the 


56 


world ; and they would be much better satisfied with some- 
thing from a stranger, which they would receive as a gift, 
than with ten times the sum from the municipal authorities 
to whom they looked for r ' indemnity 

I am then, at this writing, living at the mayor’s house, 
and receiving from fifty to a hundred families a day, hearing 
their stories and giving to them the proportion which seems 
best suited to their condition. They are largely Catholic, 
and exceedingly ignorant ; only a small, very small portion 
even pretending to anything bejmud a cross for the name. 

I shall go from point to point, seeing and aiding person- 
ally all I can, or until I am too tired to go farther ; and after 
this, if something remains unfinished, find the proper per- 
sons to do what I have not done. 







APPENDIX III. 


Extract from a letter written by the wife of a Protestant 
clergyman near Paris . 

I ought long ago to have thanked you, and begged you 
to thank the Boston committee, for the generous sum which 
you were good enough to entrust to me last summer ; but I 
was unwilling to do so until the money you sent me had 
been entirely distributed. You have allowed me to give 
aid to those victims of the war whom we called the bashful 
poor (les jpauvres honteux) to those who, in comfort yesterday , 
are without shelter and without food to-day, and who have 
certainly suffered more than the thousands of paupers who, 
speculating in public charities, have received help from every 
side, and who never hesitate to beg whenever the occasion 
offers. 

Being bound by a formal promise to those whom I have, 
as it were, forced to accept aid, I cannot give you the names, 
and it is difficult for me to give you as accurate details as I 
should wish, both for my personal discharge and for the 
interest of the committee. Let me cite only two or three 
cases. While at Versailles I spoke to you of the daughter 
of a general, wife of a captain, reduced to a condition of 
the most profound, but most respectable, poverty. Accus- 
tomed to good society, she has been obliged to hide herself 
from it, and to spend her days and nights laboring to provide 
8 


58 


food for her children hitherto delicately reared. I have helped 
her, and helped her effectively, and with tears in her eyes 
has she thanked her benefactors in Boston. I have also had 
the happiness to send back to her children a mother broken 
down by privation and anxiety, and rendered temporarily 
insane by the sudden death of her husband. 

Going to Strasburg in September I tried to do some good 
in that poor Alsace with the money that remained. What 
sufferings, what sorrows ! above all, how many sick. With 
nourishing food, medicine and wine, I strove to restore to 
health persons who, having lived in abundance, find them- 
selves deprived of the very necessities of life. Thus I have 
had the good fortune to encourage many a despondent heart, 
and to give strength to many a feeble sufferer. 


APPENDIX IY 


The Treasurer of the French Relief Fund reports : — 


Received from Subscriptions, 


$85,391 76 


Feb. 17, Paid on acct. of Cargo, 

$20,000 00 

“ 20, “ 

u 

20,000 00 

“ 23, “ 

a 

20,000 00 

“ 25, “ 

a 

5,000 00 

Mar. 1, “ 

a 

. 1,267 95 

44 3, Remitted Edmund Dwight, 

8,720 00 

“ 21, 44 

u 

4,951 74 

44 2 5, > 4 

a 

1,202 00 

14 27, 44 

a 

2,767 89 


“ 27, Advertising bills, 

44 2 7, Cable messages, 

Dec. 16, Balance in Bank, 


66,267 95 


17,641 63 
444 50 
89 38 
948 30 


$85,391 76 


Boston, Dec. 16th, 1871 


P. T. JACKSON, Treasurer. 



